We’ve mentioned a few Ekranoplans on ER before. And frankly, I thought most of those vehicles that were built to fly very low above the surface of the Earth were discontinued and abandoned. However, it seems that there are a few, or at least one, that can be met deep in the warehouses of large factories that have never surfaced and never had a flight. Here is one of them – the Ekranoplan “Spasatel” or “The Rescuer”.

It was found by a group of enthusiasts in the docking facility where for decades the ships were built – first in Soviet Russia, later in modern Russia.

2 Responses to “Sneaking to the Unknown Ekranoplan”

The problem with the Ekranoplane was that it couldn’t be used in anything other than almost perfect weather. It needed smooth surface water to operate. And because you couldn’t predict the weather, or use it when you needed to, they scrapped it.
They had two people working on it. The guy that originally came up with the idea, and then when he couldn’t make it work, they transferred it to somebody else, and he couldn’t make it work either.